6 float trip-approved St. Louis canned beers

By Catherine Klene // June 30, 2017

Float trips don’t require much: a raft or canoe (or inner tube, if you must), sunscreen and a large cooler full of beer. Our days of Bud Light and Wild Turkey shoots are remembered fondly (or not at all), but our palates have grown since those first drinking days on the river. Now we sip session IPAs, crisp wheat beers and juicy pale ales as we bob down Missouri waterways. Here are the six cans – no glass on the river! – we’re floating with this year.

1. 2nd Shift Brewing Co. Brewligans
Originally meant to sustain St. Louis Football Club fans through a 90-minute soccer game, this 6-percent brew is an IPA for hopheads who want to kick back on the Black River.

Four-pack: $12. Available at 2nd Shift Brewing Co.

2. Civil Life Brewing Co. German Pilsner
For those who forage in the cooler for something besides hop bombs and fruity adjuncts, we present the cool, crisp 5.1-percent German Pilsner. This is a Pils as it should be.

Six-pack: $10. Available at Civil Life Brewing Co. 

3. 4 Hands Brewing Co. Passion Fruit Prussia
The lowest ABV in our cooler is also one of the most flavorful. 4 Hands loads tropical passion fruit into a Berliner Weisse for a 4-percent taste of the Caribbean on the Current River.

Four-pack: $11. Available at Craft Beer Cellar.

4. Destihl Brewing Co. Wild Sour Blueberry Gose
Destihl has canned a rainbow of tasty brews in its Wild Sour series. The 5.2-percent Blueberry Gose offers a hint of salinity and puckering notes of sweet-tart blueberry.

Four-pack: $10. Available at Saint Louis Hop Shop.

5. Old Bakery Beer Co. Citrus Wheat
Looking for less hop and more grain? This 4.7-percent wheat beer offers a touch of citrus and coriander that pairs perfectly with southwest Missouri sunshine.

Four-pack: $9. Lukas Wine & Spirits

6. Narrow Gauge Brewing Co. Fallen Flag
Grab a 32-ounce Crowler of this juicy, hazy Northeast-style American IPA on regular rotation at the Florissant brewery. True, at 7 percent, it breaks our lower ABV rule, but it wouldn’t be a true float trip if you didn’t get just a little drunk.

$12. Available at Narrow Gauge Brewing Co.